Chapter 187: Please Call Me Vice President, Thank You!
"Hmm? You're Ichinose from Class B, right? Did you need something from me?" Sakagami Kazuma asked in surprise.
"Yes. Please take a look at these documents."
Ichinose politely handed him the stack of written complaints and explained, "You may already know about the recent harassment by Class D students. These are written complaints submitted to the student council by students from all three other classes."
"..."
Sakagami silently flipped through the documents.
The contents, along with the student signatures on each page, made his heart sink.
Complaints from three entire classes...
This was troublesome.
"Everyone wants the students of Class D to stop this kind of harassment, and the student council has formally accepted their complaints. So we would like Sakagami-sensei to cooperate with us and have all Class D students remain in their classroom briefly after school today."
"The student council will formally convey these complaints to Class D," Ichinose said seriously.
"I understand. I'll cooperate and tell the Class D students to stay behind after school."
In truth, Sakagami didn't particularly want to cooperate.
But if he refused, the student council could simply use the school broadcast to summon Class D directly.
If that happened, the entire school would know exactly what the first-year Class D students had been doing to the other three classes.
So Sakagami had little choice but to cooperate.
Once she had confirmed that Sakagami had read the written complaints and properly conveyed the student council's request, Ichinose's job was finished.
"Sakagami-sensei, please return the documents to me. I'll be leaving now."
"Mm."
Ichinose took the stack of written complaints back and left the faculty office.
The moment she was gone, the gloomy-faced Sakagami contacted Ryuen and told him about the complaints, warning him to prepare for whatever the student council planned next.
Watching Sakagami make the call, Hoshinomiya Chie curiously leaned toward Chabashira.
"Eh~ Sae-chan, Sakagami looks pretty upset. What documents did Honami-chan show him? And what did she tell him?"
"How would I know? Ask Sakagami if you're curious," Chabashira replied dismissively.
She actually did have a pretty good idea.
The night before, while Chabashira and Airi were preparing dinner at the detached apartment, Yuto had casually mentioned his plan to deal with Ryuen and Class D.
So Chabashira guessed the documents Ichinose had brought were probably the written complaints.
As for exactly what Ichinose had said to Sakagami, she didn't know.
Still, it wasn't difficult to guess that it had something to do with Class D's recent behavior.
Ryuen soon learned through Sakagami that Yuto and the student council were preparing to target Class D.
But what could he possibly do about it?
Yuto's strategy was completely open.
Even if Ryuen knew about it in advance, there was nothing he could do to change the situation.
"The student council..." Ryuen muttered darkly. "That bastard Nagumo should never have let Shimizu Yuto join. If Shimizu hadn't entered the council, he probably never would've thought of using these written complaints against us."
As if Nagumo had wanted Yuto to join!
Nagumo had specifically tried to prevent Yuto from entering the student council because he didn't want another rival fighting him for influence.
That was why he had contacted Ryuen in the first place and schemed repeatedly to get Yuto expelled.
Unfortunately for them, every plot Nagumo and Ryuen attempted had been seen through and turned against them.
Ryuen was suspended.
Nagumo and all of his followers were driven out of the student council.
...
Lunch break ended.
During class, Sakagami entered the Class D classroom and delivered a message to everyone.
"All of you, remain in the classroom for a while after school today," he said in a low voice.
Ibuki Mio immediately frowned.
"Sensei, some of us have an appointment with that Shimizu Yuto guy. We're supposed to go to the student council immediately after school."
"You probably don't need to go to the student council anymore. The person asking everyone to remain in the classroom is Shimizu Yuto himself, acting on behalf of the student council."
The mention of Yuto's name made Shiina Hiyori blink over the textbook she had been quietly reading.
However, the marshmallow-like girl showed no other reaction.
She couldn't.
Nobody could be allowed to discover that she and Yuto still maintained a close and friendly relationship as fellow book lovers.
"Shimizu Yuto wants all of us to stay after school?" Manabe Shiho asked, confused. "Shouldn't he only need the people who joined clubs? The rest of us shouldn't have to stay, right?"
"Exactly. Why do all of us have to stay?"
By now, everyone in Class D knew what had happened after Yuto summoned Ryuen and the others to the student council the previous day.
The students who hadn't joined clubs felt both relieved and anxious.
Relieved because they weren't club members and therefore hadn't been personally targeted.
Anxious because their recent reckless behavior had clearly attracted Yuto's attention.
But things weren't as simple as Manabe and the others assumed.
They weren't being kept after school because of the clubs.
They were being kept because of the entire Class D.
Faced with everyone's questions, Sakagami had no interest in explaining further.
"In any case, remain here after school and cooperate with the student council."
With that, he left the classroom.
He didn't want to say too much.
If he told them Shimizu Yuto would personally come to Class D after school on behalf of the student council, some of them probably wouldn't be able to concentrate on their lessons for the rest of the day.
...
Before long, the final bell rang.
Following Sakagami's instructions, the Class D students remained in the classroom.
Ryuen, Ishizaki, and Albert, however, immediately left.
Ryuen already knew why everyone had been told to stay.
And precisely because he knew, he had no intention of remaining.
Who would voluntarily stay behind just to watch Shimizu Yuto show off his authority?
The other students only whispered among themselves about the trio leaving without permission.
Those who opposed Ryuen openly complained about him ignoring even their homeroom teacher's instructions.
Tokito Hiroya cursed him most fiercely of all.
After all, Ryuen had broken his arm.
With one arm still in a cast, Tokito now felt a mixture of resentment, anger, and fear toward him.
...
The moment the dismissal bell rang, Ichinose hurried toward the Class C classroom carrying the written complaints.
She spotted Yuto near the classroom entrance.
Kei, Suzune, and Kikyo were all with him.
Ichinose's bright eyes couldn't help but drift to Kei, who was clinging tightly to Yuto's arm.
'His arm is practically buried in her chest... They're so close.'
Ichinose already knew Kei was Yuto's girlfriend.
Previously, Shiranami Chihiro had even mistaken Ichinose and Yuto for a couple and accused Yuto of being a two-timing bastard.
Kei immediately noticed Ichinose looking at the way she was holding Yuto.
As though asserting ownership, Kei tightened her grip around his arm and stayed even closer to him.
Suzune glanced at Kei clinging to Yuto before naturally looking away.
She was used to it by now.
As Yuto's seatmate, Suzune had long since become accustomed to Kei's constant affectionate behavior around him.
"Ichinose, you got here fast," Yuto greeted her.
"Of course. We're about to deal with Class D, so naturally I'm taking it seriously," Ichinose replied with her usual bright smile.
While collecting the written complaints, the students of Class B had placed all their hopes for stopping Class D's harassment on Ichinose.
Ichinose had no intention of taking credit for something she hadn't done, so she explained that the entire plan had been created by Yuto.
She herself had barely contributed anything beyond running errands and passing along his instructions.
The students of Class B only half believed her.
After all, Yuto had already tricked them once near the beginning of the school year.
Their first impression of him remained something along the lines of "villain" and "bad guy."
"Kei, we're heading to Class D to handle this now. Are you coming with us?"
"I'll go too, but Kushida and I will stay outside the classroom. We won't go in with you."
If Kei had truly possessed the fearless personality of the bold gyaru she pretended to be, she might have confidently walked into Class D beside Yuto.
But in reality, Kei was timid.
She preferred to remain outside and watch Yuto from there.
Kikyo also had no intention of entering the Class D classroom.
Yuto was going there to stop Class D from continuing to harass everyone.
If Kikyo personally joined the confrontation, some Class D students would inevitably become resentful toward her.
That wouldn't do.
Kushida Kikyo wanted to be everyone's friend.
Ichinose joined Yuto's small group, and together they headed toward the Class D classroom on the second floor.
At the stairwell, they happened to run into Katsuragi coming down from the Class A classroom.
He wasn't alone.
Several Class A students were with him, including his closest friend, Totsuka Yahiko.
They were all members of the Katsuragi faction.
When they heard Katsuragi was heading to Class D after school to finally put a stop to their harassment, they had eagerly insisted on coming along.
Class A had been thoroughly sickened by Class D's behavior over the past several days.
Now they wanted to personally watch those obnoxious bastards get put in their place—and perhaps throw a few mocking looks their way.
Katsuragi hadn't originally intended to bring them.
But everyone was so excited about witnessing Class D finally being restrained that he found it difficult to tell them not to come.
"Well, Katsuragi-san. What a coincidence," Yuto greeted him with a smile.
Kei narrowed her eyes slightly, looking at Katsuragi with obvious displeasure.
In her mind, Katsuragi had only been able to enter the student council because of Yuto.
Yet after joining, he had immediately chosen to align himself with someone else.
So Kei had absolutely no goodwill toward the bald man who had seemingly pulled up the bridge after crossing it.
"Shimizu-san. Ichinose-san. Hello," Katsuragi greeted them calmly.
"I'm heading to Class D in my capacity as student council vice president right now, so Katsuragi-san, please address me as 'Vice President,'" Yuto replied with a smile.
"..."
Katsuragi immediately sensed something wrong in Yuto's wording.
His heart sank slightly as his gaze shifted toward Ichinose standing beside Yuto.
He suspected she had told Yuto about his intention to align with someone else.
That would explain Yuto's sudden insistence on formality.
Ichinose showed no reaction whatsoever to Katsuragi's stare, as though she hadn't even noticed it.
Before Katsuragi could respond, his most loyal supporter, Totsuka Yahiko, became visibly annoyed.
"Shimizu Yuto, this isn't even the student council office! Why should Katsuragi have to call you Vice President?!"
"That's a strange argument."
Yuto smiled.
"Whether we're inside the student council office or not, I'm still the student council vice president. And no matter where Katsuragi-san happens to be, he remains a member of the student council's general affairs staff."
Yuto turned toward Katsuragi.
"Besides, Katsuragi-san, you should know that the student council regulations require members to address one another by position, correct?"
The student council had plenty of rules.
One of them required members to use official titles when addressing one another.
The student council president was addressed as "President."
A secretary was addressed as "Secretary."
And so on.
Therefore, under the student council regulations, Katsuragi, as general affairs staff, was expected to address Yuto as Vice President.
"I still think this isn't the student council, so Katsuragi shouldn't have to call you Vice President!" Totsuka insisted.
"That's enough, Yahiko."
Although Totsuka remained unhappy, Katsuragi firmly stopped him.
He then nodded toward Yuto.
"My apologies, Vice President. Yahiko isn't a member of the student council, so he doesn't understand its regulations. I apologize on his behalf."
"I accept your apology."
Yuto continued smoothly, "Katsuragi, you know about the club qualification tests I arranged with the Class D students, right? Please go to the club building and coordinate the venues and testing order with the relevant clubs."
"Once I finish dealing with the written complaints, I'll head over to the club building."
"...Understood."
"Good. I'll leave it to you, General Affairs Officer Katsuragi."
…
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